


Red Demons

by SakuraBreeze



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Addiction, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 12:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2733395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBreeze/pseuds/SakuraBreeze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen and Lythana Lavellan go on a mission to collect red lyrium for Dagna to study. Its effects cause Cullen to experience a more intense withdrawal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Demons

**Author's Note:**

> Some minor spoilers and mentions of Cullen's personal quest and from events in the game. Hasn't been beta-ed since my usual betas havent played the game yet v_v but I'll fix any mistakes I find~

Lythana was backed into a corner, pressed against the cold, damp stone of the keep’s wall with Red Templars moving in on her from all sides. She desperately cast spell after spell, but they all just bounced from their shields, fire and sparks of lightning flying into the air. Pulling as much mana as she could, she called forth a powerful strike of lightning. One of the Templars fell, but two more faced her still, and she was running dangerously low on mana. The one to her right brought his sword above his head and swung down at her. She blocked with her arm, using her magic to thicken her skin, but the blade still cut through.

Then, she heard a shout. It was Cullen’s voice. Suddenly, a sword was being driven through the Templar’s torso. The other Templar turned to face Cullen, ready to strike, but Cullen easily broke through his defenses and struck him down.

As soon as the man crumpled to the floor, Cullen was on her. His hands cupped her face and he stared at her intently, searching for any signs of harm. He looked at her arm and brushed his fingers around her wound.

“Are you alright?” He asked, voice full of concern.

She nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. This isn't anything to be worried about.”

But he didn’t seem convinced. He frowned. Then, his expression shifted from worry into frustration. “This is my fault. If I’d just-”

“Cullen, no,” she interrupted sternly. “This isn’t your fault. These things happen. It could have been a lot worse if you hadn’t been here.”

She reached up and brushed her fingers against his cheek. He caught her hand, and she jumped at the roughness of the gesture. He seemed to regret it, because he brought her palm to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to it.

“Let’s just be fast about what we’re here for,” he said. “I’d like to leave this place sooner rather than later.”

“Of course,” Lythana replied with a wan smile.

They continued further into the keep to find only one or two more Templars within.

“I’m surprised they even came back to this place,” Cullen commented. “I didn’t think that they’d leave anything behind to come back for.”

“If they hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here,” she responded. “They must be pretty desperate for red lyrium if they’re scavenging here, however.”

“We’ve cut off most of their supply, so I imagine that withdrawals are beginning for many of them.”

Lythana frowned up at him as they crept through the dark hallways, wary of anyone they might have missed. She wondered briefly how this was affecting him. Was it okay for him to be this close to red lyrium? Was it okay to bring him along on a mission to retrieve samples of the stuff?

“What is it?” He asked, and she realised that she must have been staring.

She bit her lip. “You’re okay, right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Never mind,” she sighed.

When they came to the end of the main hall, they began feeling along the back wall for any sort of lever or hidden door. After about ten minutes of searching in silence, Lythana found a small, wooden gear on the left hand side of the wall. As she turned it, a portion of the wall lifted up to reveal dark, dank hidden room. The interior was illuminated by large amounts of red lyrium that covered nearly every inch of the walls.

“Well, I think there’s more than enough here for Dagna to use,” she said as she began chipping away at it, careful not to let any of it touch her skin. “Let’s get back to Skyhold. If we need any more, we can send some of Leliana’s men – it should be safe enough for them now.”

“Right,” Cullen agreed, his voice sounding somewhat strained. When she looked up at him, he was sickly pale.

She stood quickly, going to his side and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he answered, looking away.

She frowned dubiously, but started forward anyway, glancing back only momentarily to make sure that he was following.

******

Dagna was more than excited when Lythana arrived with the new batch of red lyrium for her to study.

“Oh, thank you Inquisitor! I’ll get to work on it right away,” she exclaimed, a grin splitting her face, as Lythana handed the bag over to her.

“Let me know if you need more,” Lythana said. “I can send some agents to retrieve it from a keep to the east.”

“Thank you again, Inquisitor. I’ll let you know what I find,” Dagna beamed.

“Right,” she nodded, before turning and leaving the room.

She was feeling somewhat haggard from the trip, she had to admit. But she couldn’t stop worrying about Cullen – he had grown paler by the minute on their way home. So, instead of going to her room to bathe and rest, she made her way through Solas’ study and to Cullen’s room. When she got there, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Cullen?” She called. She was met with an intelligible groan from above. “Cullen? Cullen are you alright?”

She climbed the ladder to his bed as quickly as she could, her worry intensifying. There was another groan.

She found him sitting against the wall on the far side of his room, hunched in on himself and even paler than before. She rushed over to him, unsure what to do with her hands.

“Cullen, lethallin, talk to me, are you okay?” She asked, trying to catch his gaze.

He looked up at her slowly. His face was almost as white as paper, and he had circles under his eyes darker than she had ever seen. He was clutching something in his hands, something that shone red through the cracks between his fingers.

“Cullen,” she started, swallowing thickly. “What is-?”

“You got hurt,” he said, his voice as unsteady as his violently shaking hands. “You got hurt. I should have been able to protect you. I should be at my best. I should be as good as _them_.”

Lythana glanced down at her bandaged arm. “This? Cullen, no, this is fine. I’m fine. You saved me from those Templars,” she insisted, cupping Cullen’s cheek with one hand and using the other to pry open his fingers. “If not for you, I could be dead now.”

“I can’t lose you,” he whispered hoarsely, his eyes growing damp. “I can’t. I can’t lose anyone like that again. Especially not you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I need- I need to be as good as them.”

“No,” she whispered in reply, continuing to pry open his fingers. “You don’t need to be like them, lethallin. You are already better.” He seemed to relax at that. “You lead our troops with such valor and determination. We would have all died countless times if not for you. _I_ would have died if not for you.”

His fingers fell open to reveal a fairly large shard of glowing, red lyrium. How he got it, she had no idea. She gently picked the lyrium up out of his hands, all the while watching his face for approval. He made no move to stop her, so she took the lyrium and crossed the room to his window. Almost immediately, she could feel the thrum of its magic throughout her body without any fabric to protect her. It was powerful, she could tell, but its power was dark. She opened the window and threw the lyrium as far as she could, leaving its fate to the winds and the mountains below.

She went back to Cullen’s side, sitting next to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as best she could for her small stature. Suddenly, he pulled her onto his lap. Lythana let out a small squeak of surprise, but let herself be handled. Cullen wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply as if to reassure himself that she was actually there. All the while, his hands still shook. She threaded her fingers through his hair, rubbing soft, comforting circles into his head as she began humming Dalish lullabies.

“Are you okay, lethallin?” She asked after a few moments of silence.

“I’m okay, I’m sorry,” he croaked. “Just a little longer.”

She nodded, and resumed rubbing circles in his hair. Lythana sighed, and relaxed into Cullen. They sat there in each other’s arms for countless hours, until long after the sun had set over the mountains.

“You won’t lose me,” she whispered eventually. “I promise. I won’t leave you.”


End file.
